ERODE: A week after a 36-year-old man died at Perundurai government hospital, allegedly due to custodial torture, a postmortem was conducted at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital under the supervision of the dean in the presence of a magistrate on Tuesday as per the order of the Madras High Court.
According to sources, M Balakrishnan (36), a resident of Agaram in Srivaikuntam, was wanted in a few criminal cases. He had been to Erode on December 26 to meet his friends. On December 27, as he was sitting with five of his friends at a bar in Palayapalayam, a special police team from Erode allegedly took all six of them for questioning. While four of them were released the next day, Balakrishnan and his friend Prakash were allegedly detained in a private lodge and questioned regarding an old case. Also, it is alleged that Balakrishnan was assaulted during the inquiry.
MMariyappan, Balakrishnan’s brother in his complaint said, “Balakrishnan was severely beaten up by the police and admitted to a private hospital in Perundurai on December 28. The next day, he was shifted to Perundurai Government Medical College Hospital. He died on January 2. A lawyer from Erode informed me about his death. We noticed a lot of injuries on his body. Hence, the reason behind his death was the police attack. Action should be taken against all the police officials responsible.”
Speaking to TNIE, lawyer V Maharajan who is representing Balakrishnan’s family, said, “There were injuries on his body. Police and doctors did not give any proper response regarding this. So, we filed a case at the Madras High Court on January 5. Hearing the petition, the court ordered for an autopsy at Coimbatore Government Medical College Hospital on January 8, following which the autopsy was conducted on Tuesday. Police destroyed various clues in the case. We will request the court to order that a murder case should be registered.”
A case has been registered under section 176 (1A) (i) of CrPC at Chennimalai police station. G Jawahar, Superintendent of Police of Erode, said, “A case has been registered on the complaint. A post-mortem examination has also been conducted. An investigation is underway into the allegation made by his family.”